Qur'anic Studies Today ed. by Angelika Neuwirth, and Michael A. Sells (review)

Studies of the Qur'an in the West, as the continuation of Orientalist academic traditions, have advanced considerably in the last three decades and include several forms of publications and initiatives. In addition to books and journals dedicated to Qur'anic studies, this academic enterprise has produced encyclopedias including the ambitious six-volume Encyclopeadia of the Qur'an, edited by McAuliffe which is comparable to the Encyclopaedia of Islam.¹ This also includes the ongoing 7-volume-planned Integrated Encyclopedia of Quran (IEQ) edited by Iqbal (2013)² that is claimed to be more "Islamic" than the former. Likewise, major academic publishers competitively publish another genre called companions to the Qur'an edited by McAuliffe (Cambridge 2006), Rippin (Blackwell 2006), and Madigan (Routledge, forthcoming 2019).³ Furthermore, foremost academic publishers launched publication projects such as Routledge Studies in the Qur'an, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Qur'anic Studies Series⁴ in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS).

Taken together, these publications suggest a shift in the subjects written by scholars of Qur'anic studies in the West. This trend demonstrates that scholars tend to study and understand ontologically the contents of the Qur'an, rather than discussing the history and authenticity of the Qur'an. The publication of Qur'anic Studies Today seems to justify and enrich this trend. Originally based on a 2012 workshop entitled "Qur'anic Studies Today," each author examines various topics based on the content and debates about Qur'anic scripture.

The book is divided into three parts. The first section examines several figures mentioned in the Qur'an such as Jonah, Shu'ayb, and the wife of Lot. Devin J. Stewart comparatively analyzes the narrative of Shu'ayb in the Qur'an, providing an analysis and critique of Wansbrough's and Bultmann's theory on variant traditions of the Qur'an. For Wansbrough, prophetic logia, which gives several versions of the same narrative, were folkloric stories circulating within religious societies and then later included in the Qur'an.⁵ Bultmann comparatively mentions prophetic logia as a tradition that he defines as transmitted texts.⁶ Stewart concludes that the interpretation of different texts of Qur'anic verses (Q al-A'raf 7:85–93), (Q Hud 11:84–95), and (Q al-Shu'ara' 26:178–188), which differently describe the segmental story of Shu'ayb, do not necessarily refer to Wansbrough's and Bultmann's theories of prophetic logia and traditional materials respectively (pp. 40–46).

In the next essay, Nora K. Schmid diachronically investigates how the Qur'an illustrates the wife of Lot. Comparing the story of Prophet Lot's wife with that of the Bible, Schmid concludes that the way the Qur'an shapes and reshapes the figure of Prophet Lot's wife is part of the intellectual world of Late Antiquity (p. 73). Meanwhile, Hannalies Koloska's paper diachronically scrutinizes the Qur'anic texts that describe Jonah. Similar to Schmid's essay, Koloska comparatively analyzes the Prophet Jonah's story in the Qur'an with that which appears in the New Testament, early Christian writings, and works of art. Understanding various verses about the Prophet Yunus (Q al-Qalam 68:48–50), (Q al-Saffat 37:139–148), (Q al-Anbiya' 21:87–88), and (Q Yunus 10:97–98), Koloska tries to show how the Qur'an demonstrates the transformation from a blameworthy person to a sincerely repentant one (p. 92).

Five essays in the second part of the volume deal with particular chapters and verses of the Qur'an. Walid A. Saleh offers his understanding of six consecutive chapters of the Qur'an (Q Yunus 10),(Q Hud 11), (Q Yusuf 12), (Q al-Ra'd 13), (Q Ibrahim 14), and (Q al-Hijr 15) that are mostly concerned with biblical prophets. For Saleh, the composition of these chapters attempt to answer certain theological problems in the history of Prophet Muhammad's career, especially in the...